In Ukraine, 15 Russian soldiers were sentenced to 12 years in absentia

A court in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine sentenced 15 Russian servicemen to 12 years in prison in absentia. According to the court’s conclusion, in the spring of 2022, they forcibly held more than 300 local residents, including minors, in a basement in the village of Yagodnoye for almost a month. All were found guilty of violating the laws and customs of war.

The statement of the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine indicated that Russian servicemen, having entered Yagodnoye, drove 368 villagers, including 69 minors, into the basement of a local school and used them as “human shields” to cover the command post that was deployed in the same school . People were kept in the basement for 26 days. During this time, 10 of them died.

After the liberation of Yagodny by the Ukrainian troops, the then Prosecutor General of Ukraine Iryna Venediktova accused nine natives of Tuva of killing and torturing civilians. She mentioned their names on her Facebook. All of them, as stated, served in the Russian unit No. 55115.

“The youngest prisoner was a month and a half old, the oldest was 93 years old. They were forcibly held in inhumane conditions: cramped and stuffy, complete darkness, hunger and thirst, complete unsanitary conditions,” wrote Venediktova. She also mentioned that 10 people died in the basement due to lack of food, water and medical care. Also, according to her, 17 residents of Yagodny were killed by the Russian military.

• A part of the Chernihiv region came under the control of the Russian military after the start of the war in Ukraine. In early April 2022, they left the region.